The Phoenix Key
by Sinful Harlequin
Summary: The OMEG-A Agents do not exist. They do not specialize in Dark Magic and Elements. They do not do the dirty work of the Ministry. They do not clean up the messes of others. And they definitely do not go around saving ex-Death Eaters. G/B/D.
1. Chapter 1: Of Meetings and Proposals

The Phoenix Key

Chapter 1: Of Meetings and Proposals

((-))

"Fucking hell." Ginny groaned as she bumped into the door jam, trying to slip into their dark apartment. She hurt, all over, and the fact that she was getting blood all over their expensive carpet wasn't helping matters, either. Blaise swore softly as he tried to keep a grip on his wand, before casting some flames into the fireplace and lighting up the apartment in the warm golden glow.

Ginny threw her mask down onto the entry table before managing to somehow bump into every bit of furniture they owned as she made her way over to the sofa. Frankly, she didn't give a damn if she got blood all over it, she needed to lie down, and fast. As she threw herself onto the couch, Blaise managed to stumble over to their liquor cabinet.

"Drink?" he asked gruffly, his voice worn from spell casting. Of course the spell that had been cast to inhibit his speaking abilities wasn't doing him any favors, and neither had the counter curse Ginny had used to fix it.

"Bourbon…rocks…" he heard his partner mumble from her sprawled position on the sofa. He rested his head against the cabinet above him as he poured two glasses of straight bourbon for the both of them. He made his way over to the ice box and groped for the ice in the tray.

"Bloody little fuckers…" he swore as the ice kept skidding away from his searching fingers. He finally managed to grab a handful and dumped it in Ginny's glass before going back for more to put in his own glass. His task accomplished, he picked up the two glasses and went over to the sofa.

"Up," he muttered hoarsely. Ginny forced herself into a sitting position and Blaise slid in behind her. She laid herself back against his chest and he handed her a drink. "How bad off are you?" he asked. She was bleeding quite a bit, and the fact that it hadn't stopped concerned him a bit more than usual.

Ginny took a large sip of the bourbon and swallowed, feeling the burning smoothness as it traveled down. It helped her think a little better. "Nasty gash on my arm; that's what's bleeding so bad. Minor scratches on my stomach, busted lip, nothing else too serious to be noted." She took another large swallow and coughed a little as it flowed downward in a fiery cascade. "What about you?"

"Nothing that serious. A broken finger or two; I think my nose might be broken. Other than that, there's nothing but soreness." Blaise answered as he finished off his bourbon. "_Accio_ bourbon," he whispered. The glass bottle zoomed towards him and he caught it deftly with his uninjured hand. He set his glass on the table and somehow managed to pour himself another glass with one hand. "C'mon, sit up. Let's get us fixed before we get too sloshed."

Ginny groaned her agreement as she set her glass on the table and used her hands to sit up. Blaise followed suit, replacing his glass with his wand. "Shirt off." he ordered softly.

Ginny managed a weak smirk. "You just want to see me naked." She commented while she divested herself of said object, flinging it across the room with barely-mustered aplomb.

Blaise mustered a watered-down version of his own trademark grin. "I can see that anytime I want, Phoenix." He whispered. He looked at her stomach making sure there was nothing more severe than shallow abrasions before positioning his wand and muttering, "_Episkey_."

Ginny felt the tell-tale heat spread over the skin of her stomach, healing the wounds there, and afterward turning icy cold, letting her know the job was done. Blaise used the same spell to heal her busted lip. Before he healed her arm she grabbed her wand and made quick work of his broken nose and fingers, using the same spell he had to heal her own wounds.

"Alright, you, quit stalling and let me heal that arm." Blaise ordered.

Ginny stuck her freshly-healed bottom lip out at him. "I'm not stalling." She argued.

"Right, and you're not pouting either." Blaise stated as he grabbed her arm, his gentle touch belying his derisive words.

Ginny could practically taste the sarcasm in his voice and rolled her eyes. She let Blaise adjust her injured arm to the degree of his liking while she braced the other against the back of the sofa. This was going to hurt worse than getting the actual damn thing, but, it wouldn't do to let it heal on its own and leave her incapacitated for work. No, that wouldn't do at all.

"I'm sorry," Blaise whispered before shoving his wand tip into the gash in his partner's arm.

Ginny screamed as magic and pain alike flooded her body and senses. She could feel each and every centimeter of torn muscle and bruised tissue knitting itself back together, causing her nerve endings to explode in agony as her muscles returned to their original state. She would have prayed to all the deities she could think of, if she had thought that it would have done any good, but instead she just wished it would all be over soon.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Blaise began running his wand tip over the skin of her arm. She chanced a glance down and found a shiny pink scar running nearly from her shoulder to her elbow. That_Sectumsempra _spell had more than done its job.

"Sorry I couldn't get rid of the scar." Blaise stated as he laid his wand back on the table. Ginny massaged her arm with her other hand, kneading away the jumping pains the rapidly healed muscle caused.

"No worries. You know I've got worse." She replied digging her fingers in. She forgot, sometimes, just how much that method of healing hurt.

"Come here, let me work that out for you." Blaise ordered and pulled her completely into his arms. She went willingly and rested her head on his shoulder while his adept fingers massaged away the pain.

Ginny fully let herself relax. She'd found that only in Blaise's presence could she well and truly do so. Even then, it had taken her a little over a year to be able to do it. And before that she'd only trusted him enough to watch her back in a fight. Though that was the _only_ circumstance she'd trusted him in. Hell, she'd practically been forced into trusting him more. And it had all started that fated day, some five years ago, with a letter and a meeting…

((-))

_Ginny was on her way to the Ministry for some kind of meeting; what type of meeting she didn't rightly know. There was nothing she could have done wrong considering she hadn't seen much of anyone except her family for the past few years. Once the war was over, it had just been so much easier to just sink into the comfort of familiar faces and avoid the nosy and inquisitive ones that seemed all-too-eager to get her perspective on the war. And with Harry, Ron, and Hermione practically living for the attention, it was just easier to let them have their moment, even if that moment happened to be a few years long. It was also much easier to avoid other people that she knew would want some answers, people like Zabini..._

_But, for now, she could just pretend that she was perfectly okay. Donning the fake smile that she usually wore around strangers, she practiced it in the short time it took for her to reach an Apparation point and make it to the Ministry._

_She did wonder, as she made her way through the crowded ministry entry level, why she'd gotten the letter she had. It was extremely vague and said nothing more than a date, a floor, a room number, and a time. She wouldn't have even known where to go had she not recognized the Ministry seal on the envelope. _Curious_, she thought, _very curious

_The entry level, as per usual, was a crowded catastrophe. Twice she nearly ran over a goblin on its way back from a financial meeting with the heads of the Finance department. Three times she'd been stopped by "Seers" who had proclaimed the end of the world. She'd bumped into countless people, and by the time she reached the lift she was ready to hex someone into oblivion. She didn't rightly care who at this point, but she was sure she could find a suitable target upon which to satisfy her wrath. _

"_What floor, miss?" The liftman queried. _

"_Twelve," Ginny replied bluntly, not noticing or caring who was on the lift with her, as she managed to squeeze into a free space. Well, at least not until she felt someone lean over her. _

"_Fancy meeting you here."_

_For a moment Ginny's heart stopped completely. What the bloody hell was_he_ doing here? She somehow managed to gather her wits enough to voice her own thoughts. _

"_What are you doing here?" Alright, so it wasn't her best snappy comeback, but he'd startled her! Didn't that cut her some sort of a break? _

_Ginny could all but feel him smirk. "I should ask you the same thing, Ginevra, but considering you did ask first I suppose I can supply an answer." He stepped beside her and moved his mouth until it was dangerously close to her neck, before speaking. _

"_I happened to get a letter last night with nothing but a date, floor, room number, and a time. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you?" _

_Ginny brought her eyes up to meet his. She thought, at first, that Blaise Zabini hadn't changed at all. And indeed, she thought he hadn't, until she noticed how his face had gotten more angular, giving it a stern, unyielding appeal. His hair was longer than ever, and she almost missed that little fact, considering how it blended in with his long black cloak. His obsidian eyes had that same electricity-kissed sheen that always seemed to bore into her soul. And his lips, oh, his lips…The bottom one was fuller than she remembered, yet they still looked like they were bruised as if he'd just come out of a thoroughly satisfying snogging session. Oh, he'd changed alright. And for the better, if her opinion mattered._

"_Now, Blaise, why would I know anything about a letter _you_ received?" She asked, lifting a scornful eyebrow. _

_Blaise leaned in even closer, his lips nearly brushing her neck. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're headed to the twelfth floor, and everyone knows, you don't go there unless by invitation. And, it just so happens to be where I'm going as well. Now, can you honestly tell me you know nothing about it?" _

_Ginny stepped as far away from him as she could and glared at him. She resisted the urge to burn holes into him. But it was at that time that the liftman announced their stop. _

"_Twelfth floor." _

_Ginny tore her gaze away from Blaise's and made her way off the lift. Blaise followed closely behind her. _

_The hallway was long and eerily quiet as the lift made its hasty departure, leaving them alone. At first glance she thought that there was only a single door at the end of the hall. However, upon further inspection she noticed that the paintings hung along the wall were all hung at regular intervals, signifying their use as doorways. So, this floor really _was_ used for something. Interesting. _

"_Now really, I know this all must seem so posh to you, but could you please get a move on? I'm afraid we don't have all day." Blaise requested dryly. _

"_Oh, shut up, Zabini. It's always useful to take in your surroundings." Ginny replied._

"_This isn't a battlefield, Weasley, it's the Ministry." Blaise retorted before shoving past her to make his way down to the door at the end of the hall. Ginny didn't bother saying that to her, there wasn't really much of a difference. It was easy to see that it was the door they needed, considering there was a rather large plaque engraved with the number "13" on it._

_They stopped at the door, each waiting for the other to make a move. _

"_Ladies first," Blaise stated, motioning his hand towards the door. _

"_Yeah right, Zabini. I don't think so." Ginny snapped, crossing her arms over her substantial chest. _

_Blaise glared at her, but decided not to argue further and reached for the door handle. _

_Right before Blaise's hand reached the handle, Ginny sensed the tingle of magic that rippled across her senses. "Stop!" She grabbed Blaise's hand and pulled it back before he could fully touch it._

"_What? Change your mind about going first, Weasley? How very noble." Blaise replied sardonically, pulling his arm away. _

_Ginny glared at him and punched him hard in the arm she had recently grabbed. "No, you daft idiot. Can't you feel the magic? It's all over the door." She reached out a hand and skimmed a finger slightly above the surface of the door. Tiny lightning bolts skittered onto her finger, but she negated them quickly before they could cause any damage. If Blaise had grabbed the door handle, the_metal_ door handle, there was a very big possibility he would have been electrocuted. _

"_Well I'll be damned." Blaise muttered. He hated to even say that much. Truth be told, he hadn't felt even the tiniest spark of magic. Normally he would have felt something so small, especially since it was lightning. It was, after all, a part of his element. Then why didn't he feel it? There had never been an instant in which he hadn't been able to feel lightning; anything electric, it always sent shivers down his spine and made his magic flare. Why not now? What was different? _

"_How did you do that? Lightning is part of my element; I should have been able to feel it." Blaise stated._

_Ginny thought for a second, putting all the pieces in order. "They know your element, and they know my element. But," she smirked to herself, "they don't _know_ my element. If they had, they would have known that I have the rare ability to control lightning. It's not a normal attribute to someone with control over fire."_

"_No, it most certainly is not." Blaise replied, a minute raising of his eyebrows signifying his understanding. "That's how you negated it when you touched the door."_

_Ginny nodded. "Yes, it is. It's extremely rare for someone whose element is fire to be able to control lightning, but somehow I managed to be the one to get it." She sighed. "I'm beginning to wonder just what kind of meeting this is going to be." _

"_As am I." Blaise agreed, foreboding creeping over him. He did not like the fact that whoever had done the spell on the door had known his element so intimately, and had specifically shielded it against his senses. If Ginevra hadn't have had her rare ability and sensed it before he touched the door handle, things could have gotten messy. "We'd better go ahead and get this over with." He held out his hand, this time adding his own magic to the mix, and grabbed the door handle. _

_Ginny inadvertently let out a relieved sigh when Blaise grabbed the handle and nothing happened. She noticed he had his wand in his other hand and she followed suit, not knowing what would come next. Better to be safe than sorry. _

_Blaise pushed the door open and stepped inside, feeling Ginevra follow behind him. Both of them tightened their grips on their wands when the door slammed shut behind them and they were left in unrelieved darkness. _

"_Well, isn't this dandy…" Ginny muttered about the same time Blaise whispered, "_Lumos_."_

_Together they took a step forward, before instantly going back to back, wands at the ready, as they had during the war. It was the only time they'd ever really trusted each other, and those instincts kicked in automatically when something alerted both of them to the fact that they weren't alone in the room. _

_Ginny went utterly still, senses searching for any sign of movement or magic. There it was. _

"_Left." She hissed sharply._

_Blaise nodded in an equally quick movement and extended his left arm. "_Sectumsempra!_" _

_The room exploded in a blast of lights and magic coming from all different directions, as if whoever was there had been waiting for them to make the first move. _

"Protego!_" Ginny yelled, shielding them both from the onslaught._

"Confringo!_" Blaise bellowed. Something off to the right exploded in a wash of blue and red light. _

_Ginny could barely get a curse in. She was too busy shielding Blaise and herself from the oncoming curses. Blaise, though was flinging enough curses to take care of them both. But, she was determined. She would_not _stand there and let him have all the fun. _

"_Watch it, Zabini, I'm duplicating!" She yelled. Blaise moved so that she was completely hidden from view. Ginny turned her magic inward, delving down into the center of body and pulling from the fire that burned there. She spread her arms wide and a dome of flames encased them, shielding them from view and harm. _

_She held the dome steady with her thoughts and turned, blindly groping for Blaise's hand. Without hesitation he gave her his hands and she poured magic into his body. Beside them two smoke like forms began to take shape. Ginny released one of Blaise's hands and held her own out towards the two shadows. _

"_Duplicate." She demanded. Flames shot from her fingertips into the shadow forms. The flames built where the smoke was, soon forming two Flame Clones, one of her and one of Blaise. _

_She let go of Blaise's other hand and pointed her wand at the Clones. Thread-like material shot out of the tip of her wand and began wrapping around the Flame Clones. Within seconds the two Flame Clones were exact replicas of her and Blaise. The only difference being the eyes. Instead of her gold-flecked brown and his electric-kissed obsidian, there was nothing but flame. _

_Blaise turned his gaze back to her. "There's a door at the end of this room. That's where we head. If we stick to the walls we shouldn't have any problems." _

"_I'll take the left, you take the right. Mind giving us some cloud cover?" Ginny questioned, slightly amazed at how easy it had been to fall back into the routine they'd used during the war._

_Blaise nodded and closed his eyes. He turned his thoughts inward to the storm that raged inside his core. He pulled magic from his element, drawing on the night dark clouds that swirled angrily around the storm. He opened his eyes and waved a hand over Ginevra. Dark clouds formed a veil over her, effectively hiding her from view. In the darkness outside the dome it would serve its purpose well. He did the same to himself, making sure he kept a tight hold on the magic. _

"_Are we ready?" Ginny asked. Holding a dome for this long was tiring work, especially when she had to keep control over the Flame Clones at the same time. _

"_Yes," Blaise replied. _

_Ginny used her magic to animate their two clones. "When I drop the shield, we run." She turned to the two clones and examined her handy work. They were good clones, probably the best she'd made yet. She just had to hope she could keep control until she reached the door. "On three." _

"_One. Two. Three." _

_Ginny dropped the shield and ran like hell. She kept a tight grip on her wand, while she outstretched her other arm, skimming her fingertips along the wall. She chanced a glance over her shoulder and found her Clones apparently doing their job. All the curses and hexes were still being thrown at them. The room turned out to be rather small- of course in the darkness one couldn't really tell that sort of thing- and Ginny came centimeters away from busting her nose against the back wall. _

Good job, Gin, _She thought sardonically to herself._You manage to outrun all these bloody curses, but nearly wind up running into a damn wall!_ She could practically feel the irony something like that would have caused. _

_She found the door easily enough and reached it at the exact same time Blaise did. Blaise dropped the clouds from around them at the same time Ginny deactivated the Clones. _

_Blaise threw the door open and shoved Ginny through, barely managing to make it through himself. He came a breath away from missing a curse that had hastily been thrown their way, and slammed the door shut, leaning against it as if it would help to keep it shut. _

_The room was brightly lit, and very empty of any sort of threat. It was all grey tile floors and white marble walls. There were no chairs, no tables, no nothing; only a staircase descending from the middle of the far wall. _

_At first glance, there was no one there, but when Ginny looked again there was a lone figure descending the stairs. Said figure began to clap slowly. _

_Blaise moved to stand beside Ginny, both of them held their wands at the ready, anticipating an attack that never came. _

"_Oh, well done. Well done." The figure stated happily, at least Ginny thought it was happily. It, or rather, he, was using some sort of spell to distort his voice, making it impossible to place to any one person. _

"_Who are you and what do you want?" Blaise demanded shortly as the man drew nearer to their spot. _

_The man stopped some ten feet away from them, and they were finally able to get a good look at him. He was tall, a few inches over six feet. The grey business suit he wore kept any outstanding bodily features well hidden; the only thing they could tell was that he obviously worked out and made a great deal of money. His hands were loose at his sides, but even those were covered with black leather gloves. The white and red swirl facemask completely concealed his facial features, leaving his identity in utter secrecy. The only distinguishable trait on him was the "L" positioned in the middle of the mask. _

"_Who am I? I am the head of this organization known as O.M.E.G. The Outstanding Magical Extermination Garrison. You may call me L. As for what I want…well, I want the two of you." _

((-))

Ginny didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until Blaise shifted beneath her.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to wake you." He kissed her forehead and sat up, shifting her in his lap. "C'mon, let's get to bed."

Ginny wrapped her arms around Blaise's neck and held tight as he picked her up. She normally didn't let him do things like this. It made her feel weak and at a disadvantage, but she was still very sore from the healing and the myriad of cuts and bruises that still littered her skin didn't help any with her discomfort. So, for once, she allowed Blaise to carry her to their bedroom.

He laid her on the bed and without further comment proceeded to strip her of her remaining clothes. There was nothing sexual about it, he simply knew she was too tired, and didn't want to bother with doing it herself. He also knew that if he didn't do it, she'd sleep in her clothes.

"I'll be right back." Blaise stated quietly before bending down to brush his lips lightly across hers. He left the room to turn out the lights and collect their wands.

Ginny pulled the covers up and tucked them under her chin as she waited for Blaise to return. Unless she was unconscious or beyond exhausted, she'd come to find that she couldn't sleep without Blaise beside her. Which was odd, considering it had never bothered her before. They'd been living together for nearly four years, and been sleeping together for three. It had started out simply for work purposes. They'd been partners for a year, enough time to form a formidable friendship, but there had been one time in particular when Ginny had worried over Blaise's health after a mission that had made the decision of their moving in together.

((-))

"_Are you sure you'll be okay?" Ginny asked for the umpteenth time. Blaise was leaning against the wall, mask still firmly in place, and looking completely at ease. Well, at least he did to anyone who might have been passing by. To Ginny, though, he was anything but at ease. She could see the way his shoulders were held rigidly straight, the fact that he had his hands tucked also indicated that he was trying his damndest to keep them from shaking. _

"_Raven, answer me." She whispered furiously, calling him by his code name. They were still inside the ministry, and though it was after midnight, there were still people coming and going. They couldn't risk being seen. _

"_I'm fine, Phoenix, really." Blaise answered quietly, he _almost_ managed to hide the slight tremor in his voice. But he couldn't hide it from his partner. He could see the look she was giving him from underneath her mask. She didn't believe a word he said. _

_Ginny poked a finger in his chest, but he didn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him wince. "Listen up, pal. You're my partner, and after a year of being partners, you're practically my best mate. You _will_ tell me if you're really badly hurt." _

_Blaise reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. He was particularly proud of the fact that he managed to keep his movements steady. "I'm fine. I'm going straight home and to bed. I'll see you in the morning." _

_Damn it all! Why did he have to be so convincing? Just moments ago he'd had her worried beyond belief, and now…it was like he'd pulled his old self out of nowhere. _

_She sighed and resigned her argument. "Alright, alright. I'll see you in the morning." She could almost see Blaise's triumphant smirk at having won their spat. _

_Blaise nodded and headed for a floo port. That in and of itself told Ginny just how bad he was feeling. Blaise always Apparated home. If he was taking the easy way around, he must be bad off. But, if the bastard wanted to be stubborn, then so be it. Ginny spun on her heel, huffing as she did so. Her boot heels clicked angrily as she stormed to the street entrance of the ministry. _

Stupid fucking prat!_ She thought furiously. _If he wants to go and let himself die because he's too damn proud to admit defeat then so be it! I won't be the one to clean up afterwards!_ Of course, that was a lie. If Blaise needed her, whenever or wherever Blaise needed her, she would be there for him. He was her partner. He'd saved her ass countless times, and she'd done the same for him. It was odd to think how much things had changed since school; they'd been distant friends of sorts. During the war, they'd fought at each others backs, and now, here they were, partners. It was a wonder how things changed. _

_Her musings took her all the way to her small apartment, unease growing within her with every step. What did she have to worry about? Blaise said he'd be alright. And he would. Wouldn't he? She tossed her keys and mask onto the entry table before heading to her icebox to grab a beer. She popped the top and took a long pull, hoping that the knot of unease growing in her stomach would loosen up with the alcohol. _

_It didn't. _

_If anything, it grew. Blaise had been in bad shape, and she'd let him go home alone. She should have taken him to the hospital, or at the very least gone home with him to make sure he would be alright. But she hadn't. She'd taken him on his word, and she was regretting it now. _

"_Bloody hell," she muttered. She set the partially drunken beer in the sink, went to the fireplace, and flooed to Blaise's apartment. _

"_Blaise?" she called out. Unease grew to panic when there was no answer. _He's probably already gone to bed, s_he thought, trying to console herself. It didn't work. Her stomach was in knots. "Blaise? Answer me!" _

_Again, nothing. _

_She threaded her way through the expensive furniture to the hallway where his bedroom, study, and bathroom were located. His bedroom door was open and the light was on, but he wasn't in his bed, or anywhere in the room for that matter. "Fuck," she whispered fervently. "Blaise! Answer me, damn it!" _

_Nothing. She checked his study, and found it empty as well. That left the bathroom. Sure enough, the light was on; that much she could tell from beneath the door. She didn't hear the shower running, therefore there was no excuse for him not to have heard her. _

_The door was locked, so she pulled out her wand, "_Alohamora._" The door clicked open and she pushed it all the way. _

"_Damn it, Blaise!" _

_Blaise was slumped against the shower stall, his heavy breathing indicative of his poor state. "I'm sorry, Gin." He whispered heavily as she crouched down next to him. _

_Ginny immediately went to work on his plethora of wounds. "Idiot fuck! Next time don't act all big and bad, and just let me help you." Men, when would they learn that women are always right?_

((-))

"And just what are you thinking so hard about?" Blaise remarked as he crawled into bed next to her. Ginny turned and wrapped herself around him, putting her face even with his and entwining her legs with his, enjoying the coolness his silk sleep pants offered.

"Nothing much, just how dumb you can be sometimes." She replied with a tired smirk. He pulled her closer against him.

"Here now, you've had your fair share of dumb moments." He stated jokingly. She gave him a cheeky grin before kissing him softly. It wasn't entirely sexual, though there was always an undercurrent of sex between them, but it was mainly for the fact that he was there with her, and they were safe and healed, for the most part.

Blaise kissed her back just as softly. There were no teeth and barely any tongue involved, it was just his lips against hers, both moving gently against the other. It was comfort; it was safety; it was healing for them both.

Ginny pulled away with a yawn. Blaise chuckled and gave her a final quick kiss before whispering, "Good night."

"'Night," Ginny whispered back, snuggling herself as close as she could against Blaise.

It didn't take long at all before they were both sound asleep.

((-))

The knocking at the door pulled Blaise out of his coma-like sleep. He looked next to him and found Ginny still out cold, her red hair splayed in utter disarray around them both. The knocking at the door continued. It wasn't impatient, but it was relentless. He actually managed to get out of bed without waking Ginny.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." he muttered as he made his way to the door. He checked the peephole before undoing the different latches and pulled the door open.

"Good morning, Raven."

"Morning, Moon. I take it you're not here for pleasure?" Blaise inquired as he leaned against the doorway.

Moon stood in the deserted hallway looking as she always did; her blue and white swirl mask concealing her facial features, blonde hair pulled back into a bouncy ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a pair of skintight dark denim jeans, a blue silk halter top, and the ever present white knee length overcoat that had her signature blue flames skirting the bottom. And of course there were the boots. The heels to her boots were just as deadly as any weapon, and Moon knew how to use them. But, as nice as it was to see her, her mask was on, and that meant business.

"Unfortunately. L wants to see you and Phoenix in his office in an hour. He has a new assignment for you." Moon replied, her somber tone at odds with her normal dreamy way of speech. She hadn't distorted her voice, so it wasn't too pertinent, but it was best not to keep L waiting.

Blaise nodded his acknowledgement of their orders and Moon nodded back before disappearing. When he shut the door and turned to head back to the bedroom he found Ginny already in the kitchen making tea.

"So, L's office in an hour?" she asked, looking up from her tea making.

Blaise rubbed his face and nodded. Ginny sighed and went back to her tea making. "Couldn't he at least have given us another day? I mean, hell, we just got done with an assignment last night." She mumbled as she pulled two mugs from the cabinet.

"When, in the last five years, has L ever taken into consideration when we got done with a previous assignment?" Blaise questioned sarcastically.

"Good point." Ginny grudgingly admitted, handing Blaise a mug of his preferred Black Chai Tea while she sipped her own regular Chai Tea. They stood in silence while they enjoyed their first cup of tea, both completely comfortable in their morning routine.

Ginny, as always, finished her tea first and went for a shower. Blaise enjoyed a second cup of tea while Ginny showered, and once she was done, he went for his. Ginny poured herself a second cup, indulging, this time around, in a bit of honey to go with it, and headed back to their bedroom. It wasn't as if she didn't know what she was going to wear. It was at least nice to know that much. Going into L's office for an assignment could mean any number of things, from a month long mission to some far off land, to a simple recon mission. You never knew what you were going to get.

She was pulling her clothes out of the closet when Blaise came into the room, a towel slung low on his hips and using another to dry his hair. It took a good bit of self control not to go over to him and take advantage of the way he was flaunting himself, but somehow she managed and began the process of getting ready.

The black leather pants came first. They weren't difficult to get into, but they did take a while to break in so that now she could move without feeling like the seams were going to bust. It wasn't that she wasn't skinny, it was just that she had just enough curve to make a breaking in process necessary. She put her bra on so that she wouldn't be completely exposing her top half, and went about doing her hair. It took a while, considering how much hair she had. She dried it with a quick spell, then proceeded to section out the pieces she would be changing.

Wand in hand, she began with the bottom portions. Every section of hair she ran her wand tip down turned a solid, deep gold that matched brilliantly with her red hair. She'd gotten lucky with her hair; it hadn't stayed the burnt orange color most redheads had, but it had darkened to an unnatural shade of red. Or she'd thought it was unnatural until she'd seen a picture of her mother back when she was Ginny's age. Her hair had been the exact same color.

With barely twenty minutes left until their hour was up, Ginny finished her hair. Some days she left it down, but others she'd put it up. Today was a day for the latter. She'd put it up at the nape of her neck, using an ungodly amount of bobby pins to compile the mass of red and gold curls making it both messy and elegant at the same time. She'd skipped make-up entirely, her mask made it unnecessary and a nuisance, so, why bother? The black leather vest that matched her pants practically screamed sex appeal. It accentuated her chest, showing a good deal more cleavage than her brothers would have approved of, and showed an inch of skin between the top of her pants and the bottom of the vest. Her brothers would most certainly not have allowed her to walk out of the house with what she was wearing, but what did she care? They didn't know 'Phoenix' anyways.

Her black knee high stiletto boots finished off the main part of the ensemble. Now all that was left were the small things. She grabbed her belt from the drawer she kept it neatly stowed in, and slid it through the loops, adjusting the Phoenix emblem so that it sat securely over the button of her pants. She slid a plain silver ring over the index finger of her left hand at the same time Blaise reached around her to grab his own silver band. He kissed her cheek in passing and slid the ring onto the same finger she had.

"Ready?" He asked, as he adjusted the silver tie of his suit. She nodded and followed him out to the living room. As always, he looked like the perfect assassin. He'd taken a leaf out of L's book and decided that his "uniform" would be a suit. That was were the similarity ended. Blaise's suit was black on black. The only color in the outfit being the silver tie he wore. As always, his dragon hide boots were polished to a high sheen and made a light clomping noise on the hardwood floor. He'd French braided his hair into three different sections, tying it off at the nape of his neck so that the rest of it hung loose down to the small of his back. And of course, you couldn't forget the black leather trench coat to top it all off. It hung around his six foot plus frame with ease, clinging where it needed to, but still being loose enough to allow flexibility when needed.

Ginny grabbed her mask off of the entry table and handed Blaise his. She secured her red mask with its golden tribal whorls, and turned to Blaise. Their masks were nearly identical, except where hers was red and gold, his was black and blue. He nodded once and she nodded back. There would be no more speaking until they reached L's office.

Blaise Apparated first. Ginny followed a moment later to give the illusion they had arrived separately. They arrived on the twelfth floor in the deserted hallway that had started it all. This time, though, they went to the first portrait on their immediate left. Both of them waved the hand that bore their rings over a small black pad and the portrait opened silently, swinging out to allow them entry. Beyond the door was bustling with activity. Secretaries and O.M.E.G. members alike were scurrying about their everyday business. Blaise and Ginny walked passed them all without so much as an acknowledgement.

They reached L's office without incident and didn't even bother knocking. When they entered the room, L was sitting behind his desk, fingers clasped, and mask off. He stood momentarily when they came in before resuming his seat when the door closed. Ginny and Blaise both took off their masks as they sat in the arm chairs opposite L's desk.

"Glad you could make it." L stated with a small grin. "I wasn't quite sure if you'd take the mission or not considering you just got off one last night."

Blaise leaned forward. "Moon made it sound like we didn't have much of a choice."

L's grin became a full blown smirk. "You don't."

Ginny glared at her boss and long time friend. "You're an ass, you know this, don't you?"

L turned his attention to her. "You're right, I am. And I was taught by the best."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "The best; yeah…_right_." she replied sarcastically. She knew just who "the best" were in this case.

"Now," L changed the subject rather abruptly, "I'll get straight to the point." He pulled two copies of a file out of a drawer and handed one to each of them.

"Draco Malfoy has been captured. I want _you_ to bring him back."

((-))

You probably know us better as Sinful Rapture and Harlequin-Girl, the authors of "Mesmerize" as well as "Seven Deadly Sins" and "I Am", "Blink", and "Swallow My Pride".

The concept for this story came to me as I was heading home from Disney World, I was listening to a group called Within Temptation, and all the sudden my mind started whirring with new ideas. And they all focused on this one story line. So, once I got home, I e-mailed Roma straight away and told her the idea and asked if she wanted to co-write it with me. Well, she agreed and thus "The Phoenix Key" was born.

We have the plot worked out to a pretty far point, not finished, but it's getting there.

We understand that we've posted this as a Ginny/Draco fic, but as you can see from the above, it starts as a Ginny/Blaise. It _will_ get to the point where it is a Ginny/Blaise/Draco. And we can just about guarantee you'll love it!!!

Now, we LOVE you all!! And we will LOVE you even more if you give us all those nice, wonderful, beautiful reviews. SO, don't forget to REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!

Arigato

Ja'ne & Poka- Ami & Roma!


	2. Chapter 2: Escaping the Pain

The Phoenix Key

Chapter Two: Escaping the Pain

((-))

It was the violence in which Blaise hurled his mask across the room that alerted Ginny to the fact that something was bothering him. Her eyes didn't even flicker when the following crash reverberated ominously through the room that signaled the end of the indestructible mask's flight, but she did glare at him when she heard the tinkling of glass hitting the carpet. Narrowing her eyes, she dropped her mask in a chair as she passed it, murmuring _"Reparo" _and replacing the fallen vase. Picking up Blaise's mask on the way back, she put it with hers, before going over to where Blaise was banging things around the kitchen.

She watched him for the better part of five minutes, and only grew alarmed when he downed a good four shots of straight absinthe. She plucked the shot glass he had been raising to his lips out of his hands, downing it herself. He glared at her, and then turned his glare to the glass decanter that had a scantily dressed green fairy on it. In a burst of vehement action, he flung the bottle to his right, and Ginny watched the pale green liquid drop down the walls. Never mind the fact that the single bottle cost near one hundred galleons; so what if they had one hundred galleons less?

Ginny didn't know exactly what was wrong with him, but she wasn't a brainless idiot, either. When Blaise got into these kind of violent rages, he'd smash up the apartment until she managed to divert his attention elsewhere. She was intensely relieved that their apartment was a Muggle one: practical in the sense that it was detached from the rest of the world, and muggles were known to be much less perceptive to silencing charms than wizards.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly, not moving at all from where she leaned up against the counter opposite Blaise. His knuckles were clenched tightly on the edge of the counter, so tight that she was surprised that the counter didn't buckle under the pressure.

He spun around so fast that Ginny had trouble catching the motion, before her eyes flew to his smoldering ones. She managed to gather a few of the emotions that were festering there—rage, sadness, uncertainty—before he covered it up with lust in one instant, his eyes flicking down to her lips. She wasn't sure who took the first step, Blaise or her, but her air supply was suddenly cut off when his lips crashed into hers with a violent passion that his actions had just been mirroring.

The kiss was as savage as the way he clutched her body to his, grinding against her as she leaned back to let loose a breathy gasp. His lips seared a path across her cheek and down her neck, only stopping when the rest of her was obscured by fabric.

"No talking, then." She amended in a gasp, hissing out her remaining air when he bit her particularly hard on the junction of her shoulder and neck. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hefted herself up so that her legs wrapped around his hips, locking her ankles and taking that opportunity to press particularly hard on his erection. He bit off a word that sounded suspiciously like a swear word in a different language, before he dove back into the moist cave that was Ginny's mouth.

They were alternatively taking turns sucking each other's tongues inside their mouths, before it turned to an all-out war, tongues used as rapiers as they sparred, biting and nipping and turning the kiss into a savage battle of wills. Ginny broke the kiss first, tangling one hand in his thick hair and pulling his head sideways so she'd have access to his neck, biting down so hard that he convulsively twitched, her name spilling from his lips in a moan like a potent ambrosia.

When she was slammed into a wall, she bit down even harder, before pulling back, blood staining her lips as she took the opportunity to glare at Blaise. He looked at her sheepishly, before glancing towards the doorway to his right with his eyes.

"Sorry, love. Missed." He apologized. Narrowing her eyes, Ginny captured his mouth in another fierce kiss, making sure that he got to taste his own blood. When he groaned in response, she released his lips in favor of trailing soft kisses down his jawbone and towards his neck. As his head fell back, appreciative noises falling from his lips, she suddenly bit down savagely, just as hard as she had before, but this time, intentionally.

"Fucking hell!" He swore, grabbing her bound hair and pulling her head back sharply. She looked at him innocently, taking the time that he was lustily gazing at her lips to rip his shirt off, falling to the ground in a light manner that seemed so out of place in their hungry embraces.

"What? I couldn't leave your perfection looking uneven, now could I?" In response, he only growled, pulling her closer to him as he strode into the bedroom, falling onto the bed with her in his arms. Ginny untangled her legs from his as he grabbed the edges of her shirt, ripping it in two with a surprising burst of strength that left the two halves of black leather trailing off the sides of the bed as he returned the favor. Once she had escaped the enthralling sensation of his lips on her, she groaned aloud.

"_Again? _You are aware that's the third one in two weeks, aren't you?" She asked, exasperated, as he trailed little bites down her neck, only stopping to pull her bra lower to reveal her rising breasts and pink nipples.

She lost all desire to speak when his oh-so-hot mouth descended on her nipple, and she purred in adoration as his tongue swirled around the tip, lips occasionally pressing together in a mimicry of a bite. His free hand—the one that wasn't tracing designs on her hip—was massaging her breast, pinching her nipple every once in a while in a way that made her arch her back, pressing her breasts into his cool palm and fiery mouth.

"If you would stop wearing clothes in the first place, we wouldn't have that problem!" He growled at her when his mouth had lifted off her nipple, and at first Ginny had no idea what he was talking about, the cool breath that his mouth had generated by talking causing delightful shivers to radiate from her nipple to the very tips of her toes, ending up in the tight coil deep in her belly. When she finally did remember, she scowled, hitting his shoulder.

"You insufferable—" She didn't get any further when Blaise decided that it was high time to divest her of her pants and stilettos, the slinky fabric peeling off her legs and exposing her skin to the cold so quickly that she sucked her breath in just as the shoes hit the floor with twin thuds. He didn't waste any time in going directly for her core, and suddenly talking wasn't that high on her list of priorities as she voiced her approval in a variety of moans, gasps, purrs, and breathy whispers.

She wrapped her legs around his neck, pressing his head closer to her center—not that he needed it, considering his tongue was pressing much farther up her passage than she had expected it to—and he responded with a tiny nip to her tiny bundle of nerves. Her breath left her in a combination of a yelp, a moan, and a swear word directed at her lover, but he only chuckled, the vibrations making her shudder deliciously, before continuing his exploration of her.

"Ass…hole…" Ginny gasped out, feeling her muscles beginning to clench and unclench with her impending climax. Again, he chuckled, his hands drawing down so he could grasp her hips and angle her in the particular way that gave him an even better position to access her fleshy lips.

"Not tonight, love." Blaise murmured huskily, before delivering the final blow. He sucked her clitoris into his mouth, massaging the little muscle, and thrust three of his fingers into her moist heat.

Ginny's hoarse yell echoed through the room, and as an afterthought, Blaise checked the wards on the room, feeling the heat of fire as she lost control of her magic after the onslaught of such devastating physical pleasure. Hips thrusting up into his face, Blaise pulled away from her moist curls, his hands tightening on her as he pulled off his pants and positioned himself, waiting for her to finish shuddering.

As it was, he was nearly cross-eyed with desire, staring down at his twitching and sweaty lover. He loved it when she was like this. Both of them lost their masks, and here in front of him laid the true Ginny. When she was here with him, she was all his, and neither of them had to deal with the daily pressures that they normally dealt with.

Ginny's ecstasy-hazed mind cleared long enough to discover that Blaise was poised over her, his gleaming alabaster body coiled with a tension that she had only seen in snakes, preparing to strike. She felt a smirk creep over her face; what an appropriate analogy, that she would relate her Slytherin paramour to his house mascot.

The smirk fell from her face with a shuddering gasp when he thrust forward, entering her to the hilt and not giving her any time to slowly get used to him. He did pause, though, allowing her a few brief moments to calm her twitching body, leftovers of her magnificent orgasm, before he began to penetrate her with earnest. Her hands sought for something to hold on to, and settled on his shoulders, her nails tearing deep into his soft and nearly unyielding flesh as he hissed in pain and pleasure.

Ginny felt her body, so suddenly after the last orgasm, building up in heat and tension again, and knew that from Blaise's increasingly hard and fast strokes that he was also reaching the pinnacle of his endurance. He curved even closer to her, dark hair feathering over her over-sensitive breasts and adding even more to her building climax, as his hands gripped her hips with a force that she knew was going to bruise painfully.

She gave up thinking in general when she felt her orgasm strike her like a lightening bolt—knowing what kind of magic was contained in his body, it wasn't an unlikely occurrence—and felt him thrust into her one final time before shuddering in release.

Floating in her sphere of blissful rapture, Ginny only sank back down to earth with a sickening lurch when a tiny splatter of cold moisture hit her heaving breasts. Surprise was evident on her features when she looked up and found Blaise looking as lost as a little boy, vulnerable and uncertain as he tried to anchor himself back to earth by holding onto her tightly.

She eased off of him before pulling him down to her, lying on the bed as she cradled his sweaty body to hers. She leaned up and kissed the remaining tear off of his face, before he drew her lips to his and they kissed, long and slow and tender, exactly opposite of what they had just participated in.

Blaise pulled away with a sigh, resting his chin on her head. She felt him wave his arm, and it was suddenly dark, before he began to pull the remaining pins out of her hair. Once he had pulled them all out, she relaxed in the feeling of his hands weaving themselves through her thick hair, before sinking into sleep, her last thought echoing in her empty head.

Why Blaise had been crying hadn't been a remark on her sexual prowess; rather, it was only a physical incarnation of his mental anguish. _Tomorrow_, she thought to herself, _I'll find out. Hopefully before we go and rescue Malfoy. _

((-))

Pain was the first thing he was aware of. Hell, pain was the _only _thing he was aware of. It was pointless to try and pinpoint it to one certain place, either. His entire body was just one huge, pulsating lump of agony. He resisted the moan that threatened to slip out of his lips; if it hurt this much just to breathe, he knew that it would be infinitely more painful to speak.

He figured that the first thing he would need to do would be to find out just where the hell he was, so he attempted to open his eyes. Only one eye would open; the other was swollen shut, cemented in place with what seemed to be dried blood. He was looking up at darkness. Not the most revealing thing to find out where he was.

Next, he tried to discern what he was lying on—apparently, it was the ground. Only a cold, hard, and slightly wet ground. He guessed that the wet was a combination of water and blood—his blood, probably. If he could make an educated guess, he could only assume that it was a cell of some sorts. It wasn't Azkaban, because there wasn't an overall sense of happiness—not like he had any in the first place—being sucked out of him.

But he wasn't willing to put it out there that he was grateful for not being in Azkaban. Most likely, this cell was probably going to be much worse than Azkaban's finest.

Examining the ceiling, he finally got used to the shadows enough to determine that it was slightly lighter on the right side of his vision—meaning that the door was probably to the right. In order to even begin to start planning his Grand Escape, he was going to have to be able to see the entirety of the cell—which also meant that he was going to have to move.

_Fucking hell…_he thought to himself. First things first: figure out which things were actually safe to move. Left arm: check. He felt a slight pain at his wrist, and knew that he wouldn't be able to move it, but he could move his arm. Broken wrist. He could deal with that. He tried moving his right arm, but stopped short with a grimace of pain. Dislocated shoulder and broken humerus—that is, upper arm bone—screamed that he wasn't going to be able to move that arm any time soon.

He twitched his right leg, and a sharp pain on his thigh and a trickle of blood alerted him to the fact that he had a very large gash there, and that he had just reopened the wound. His foot, though…it seemed as if it wasn't even able to move. Something was broken down there—and the way that it seemed to be just a large mound of pain, it was probably _everything _down there.

His left leg didn't feel much better. His knee wouldn't even move—crushed kneecap, maybe? Slashed tendon?—and he felt a very painful tug on the skin of his shin; he was pretty positive that the bone had split and pierced his skin. _Pleasant, _he thought to himself. So, that meant only his left arm, sans wrist, was going to help haul his sorry ass upright.

When he tried moving his arm into a better position, a wave of agony washed over him, and he just surrendered himself to the pain. Maybe it was better just to give his body a break for a bit, and try to remember other important things…after all, he was going to have to have a plan, and it wouldn't do no good if he ended up passing out after rushing himself to sit up.

How had he ended up here? Oh yeah, that's right—Auntie dearest, Bellatrix Lestrange. He had been…reporting to Shacklebolt, that's right. Except he had taken too long—gotten into a heated argument about Quidditch, actually, but that was beside the point—and had returned back to Bella Morte, the Lestrange manor, later than he normally did. Naturally, he had attempted to lay out the excuses—he had been dying to see an old friend, but had lost track of the time—but it must have been brutally obvious that he hadn't been.

He could only guess that Bellatrix had somehow been alerted to his strange disappearances recently, and had decided to call him on it when he had returned late. He was practically a prisoner at the house, anyway, because he had been in far too deep to risk being seen outside in public. It was much easier if people assumed that he had died.

But he had paid for his argument with Shacklebolt, paid with it in blood. Bellatrix had been beyond furious. After all, it was her nephew, son of Narcissa Black, the woman who Bellatrix also thought had betrayed her cause, that had also turned traitor. She had "taken him in," as it were, in the hopes that she would still be able to make a loyal minion out of him, despite who his parents had been.

Bellatrix had been filled with rage—rage at herself, for even thinking that he could become something that he obviously was not, and rage at him, for even thinking of turning traitor—and had taken it out on him, all the while trying to extract information from him. _As if I was thick enough to crack under torture_, he sneered to himself. _My father had taught me better than that—after all, it wouldn't look good at all on the family name if Draco Malfoy had spilled all his secrets after a few broken bones. _

Grimacing, Draco decided that he had ruminated long enough, and attempted to sit up. Bad move. As he fought past the blackness that had consumed his vision, Draco wondered just how screwed up he was internally. If even the slightest twitch of his stomach muscles caused him to spasm in pain and nearly pass out, it was definitely not good for his organs._Probably have a few burst organs and assorted other bruises_, he assessed. Either way…

When he had finally regained his somewhat-numb and pain-filled existence that he had been in before he had tried to sit up, he turned his head to the side. The closest wall was to his right. He could make it; he was Draco Malfoy. He didn't let anything, especially not a little bit of pain, stand in his way.

It was horrifically slow going. For one, he couldn't move so much as an inch without stopping, trying to keep consciousness and pushing back the pain. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't move certain limbs for the fear of further injuring them, so it was all he could do to just drag himself towards the wall, injured limbs trailing behind him and smearing blood onto the dark stones.

When his hand touched the cold wall—_finally!_—he spared himself a triumphant grin, but it froze on his face when he heard the grinding of an old lock. Slowly, painfully, he turned his head to find the door. It wasn't even bright light, but it hurt his eyes nonetheless and he took his time adjusting to it. When it wasn't quite so painful, he looked again, and found a large figure silhouetted by the light, his face cast in shadows.

Even so, Draco didn't find it hard to recognize Rodolphus Lestrange, his uncle. After all, the man's figure was easy to recognize as the largest one that he'd ever see, next to Rubeus Hagrid, back from Hogwarts and the War.

"Hello, nephew." His voice sneered, and the door slammed shut ominously behind him. Draco could do nothing but stare as Rodolphus said a word, lights flying into the four corners of the room and illuminating it in a sickly green light. In the flickering lights, it made Rodolphus' countenance even more ghastly.

"Uncle." He acknowledged. He knew what this visit was for—more torture. The only thing that he could hope for was that Rodolphus would actually manage to kill him; after all, if he didn't, that meant that Bellatrix was waiting for her turn to finally kill him. And if Rodolphus robbed her of that privilege, well, that meant that he'd be the one getting punished, not Draco.

"This can go two ways." His voice was scratchy from his years spent in Azkaban, his vocal cords never fully recovered from the daily screaming. "One, you tell me who you were reporting to, and what you reported, or two, you don't tell me, and I torture you some more and pull the information out of your screeching lips." Draco only sucked whatever saliva and blood he had left in his mouth to spit disdainfully on the floor in front of Rodolphus, clearly illustrating which one he chose.

"So be it." The _Crucio _was expected, but the pain was still an brutal surprise as his body twitched, furthering his injuries and spiraling the pain out of control, until Draco was only aware of his voice continuing on and the fact that slowly, the darkness was creeping up on him, swallowing his senses until he was about to sink into unconsciousness…

Unluckily, Rodolphus was used to detecting when a victim was nearing the point of no return, and lifted the spell. Panting heavily, Draco leaned on the wall, his forehead pressed to the cool stone as the unwelcome green light slowly shifted back into his vision. The stone was cooler than normal, and his breath was coming out in a slight fog. An after effect of his uncontrollable elemental magic, ice.

"Ready to tell?" Rodolphus questioned. Draco didn't dignify it with a response. Sooner or later—most likely sooner—he was going to lose consciousness, and then he'd be able to sink into oblivion and be blissfully unaware of the world. If only he could voluntarily do it, though…

The next spell was a spell that Draco knew, but had never had cast on himself. It was internal agony; it shifted the locations of his organs, but kept the major parts attached. Meaning that minor veins and tendons were ripped and torn, while the major ones remained in tact so he'd still be alive. It was beyond painful. Curling in on himself, ignoring his other pains, Draco desperately tried to stop the twisting of his insides, knowing that it was useless to try to do so.

When the spell stopped, Draco coughed, spitting out blood. His vision was swimming, and he knew that he was close. Close to finally escaping this hellhole. Not to mention, all around him was so icy that he knew that Rodolphus must have been having a hell of a hard time remaining down here. But most likely, his uncle had planned ahead and worn a heavy coat. The ice didn't bother him; it was actually quite pleasant, and he took comfort in it.

"Bloody fuck, you are such a fucking ice pansy." Rodolphus spat at him, delivering one brutal kick to Draco's head. It was enough, and he was spinning away into the comforting darkness of nothing.

((-))

"Raven, pay attention." Ginny whispered savagely. She rarely, if ever, got angry with her partner. But ever since L had given them their assignment…his concentration had gone out the window. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't even acting like himself; he rarely ever allowed things to affect him to such a degree.

He hadn't baited her with his normal sarcastic banter, his natural sensuality had been knocked off so he was clumsy and foolish, and even sex had been rougher than he normally liked. Last night was a clear example of this; hell, Ginny _still _couldn't walk straight. But it all came down to one thing.

Draco Malfoy.

Ginny was no idiot. She knew that they had once been friends, back when Hogwarts was everything and she lived for the rivalry of Slytherin and Gryffindor. Every Gryffindor had made it their duty to analyze the Slytherins and find their weaknesses—after all, it was most likely that the newest generation of Slytherins would be the ones that they would fight in the War—so she had kept her eyes and ears open to any information concerning the Slytherins. Especially the two most prominent ones.

She wasn't quite sure how good of friends they had been, though; Slytherins were typically quiet when it came to their loyalties. And when Blaise and her had become friends in their final year of Hogwarts, when Malfoy hadn't been there, even then, they'd never been close enough friends for her to be able to delve into his past relationship with the silver-haired boy.

"I am paying attention." He told her, but even the comment was lacking its usual venom that it would have contained.

"Bullshit. If you were, can you tell me how many wards we've busted through?" She challenged. They were standing on a hill overlooking Bella Morte, past the wards and ready to enter the mansion. But she wasn't willing to go in there, at least not until Blaise had a clear head.

"Seven." He said, without missing a beat. She grudgingly had to give him that, even though she knew that he still hadn't been paying attention.

"Okay, so you've proved that you can count. Now, are you going to tell me what the hell's got your panties in a twist? Preferably before we enter this place?" She knew what was bothering him, but she also knew from experience that it was better to pretend that she didn't know, and have him enlighten her apparently ignorant self. He sighed.

"Phoenix…you must know that D and I have history." It was an unspoken rule that you _never _call a target by their true name, so the monosyllabic letter was just going to have to work. Besides, she knew who he was talking about, anyway.

"What kind of history are you talking about?" She asked when he didn't continue. He sighed again, raising his hand to run his fingers through his hair. He belatedly remembered that his hair was bound in a tight braid, so had to settle with adjusting the edges of the mask.

"The complicated kind." He answered cryptically. Ginny wanted to start pulling out her own hair, if he kept on beating around the bush like this. "Let's just leave it at that."

"No, let's _not_." She snapped at him, surprising him. "Whatever the hell you and D used to do—be it staying up late and talking about your latest conquests or shagging—it's in the past, and has no affect now. _You _need to get your head out of your ass and pay attention to this bloody mission, or you're going to get one of us killed!" Again, he sighed. If he kept on doing that, she was going to forget he was a human being and had been transfigured into a fireplace bellows.

"Alright, Phoenix. I'll start paying attention." He visibly straightened and sharpened his senses; she could see the way that his eyes swept over the mansion below them that he was finally back with her. She stepped closer to him, laying a hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry, Raven. Truly, I am. But after we've secured D, then you can settle whatever differences you've got with him. Until now…well, we're wasting time. He could be dead now." He stiffened at this, before beginning to swiftly walk down the scraggly path, keeping to the shadows. Ginny sighed—Gods above, it was infectious!—and continued after him, keeping an eye on their backside. Hopefully, no one would sneak up on them as they made their way down the hill.

It wasn't that long until they made it to the mansion; after all, Blaise's swift pace covered the distance twice as fast as they normally would have made it in. It was Blaise who blasted a hole in the wall, and it was Ginny who cast the silencing charm and made it so no one was aware of a small Blaise-sized hole appearing in the outer wall.

As they made it to the main building, she had to sneer at the lack of defense around the house. There was a surprising lack of guards anywhere; apparently, Bellatrix was under the impression that her seven wards would be enough to keep out most. And it probably was. But OMEG-A agents definitely weren't most.

The prowled around the building, Ginny following Blaise, searching for the iron grate that would be the ventilation for the dungeons. All the medieval dungeons had them, since they needed air to be supplied to the prisoners somehow. Some of the castles had windows in the cells, but most wizarding castles had no windows; after all, there was a small part of the population that could perform wandless magic, and a window in the cell was basically a wide open door to someone who could perform wandless magic.

When they finally found the grate, Blaise stepped back, casting the silencing charm and keeping an eye out for any guards as Ginny melted the grate. Blaise then stepped forward and cooled the grate with some rain, before they slipped into the dungeon, landing softly on the floor. There weren't even any jagged edges on the iron, since Ginny had learned from experience that jagged edges snag clothing, and snagged clothing rips. And ripped clothing most often made _very_ obvious noises.

Down in the dungeon, they were greeted by a long hallway with a torch of spluttering light on either end, and shadows in between. Their arrival was unnoticed, although the moans and groans of the prisoners probably would have covered up any sounds that they might have made. The first cell that Ginny opened held nothing. The next held a body. It was curled up in one of the corners, its eviscerated limbs pointing out an unnatural angles.

Blaise had gone closer and checked its vitals, before exiting the cell without a sound. Ginny didn't even want to see its face and see who it had once been. It wasn't queasiness. She had just seen plenty of bodies before, so why add another to her growing list?

When she finally exited the cell, Blaise was entering the next one. She heard a muffled curse, before she darted into the next cell to find a prisoner lying unconscious on the floor, Blaise rubbing his neck. He glanced at her sheepishly.

"Surprised me. Bugger tried to strangle me." He explained. She crouched down, rolling it over. It was a thin woman, the hollows of her check caved deeply in her face. Her closed eyes were bruised purple, with matted dark hair of an indeterminable color falling onto her sallow skin. Ginny made sure that she was well and out before leaving the door opened. If she did manage to wake up, she had the hope of escaping, thin hope as it was.

The next one was empty, but the following one held a nasty surprise. As soon as Ginny had entered, she had been jumped on. The weight that she was now supporting—her own plus her unknown assailant—was too much for her back, and she collapsed to the floor with an "oof!" There was a flash of light, and the man was flying off of her. She took Blaise's offered hand and allowed him to haul her to her feet.

The man was pinned to the wall, unconscious, with glowing black restraints pinning him there. She couldn't see Blaise's face, but she knew that if she could, he'd be sending her an accusing look.

"Not my fault!" She defended. "He's actually half healthy." They went closer and inspected him, and discovered that he _did _look quite healthy. Suspicious, Blaise had yanked up the man's left sleeve and revealed the scarred skin on his forearm.

"Ex-Death Eater." He said darkly, not bothering to pull the sleeve back down. "Most likely pissed Bellatrix off so he's now stuck down here for a bit." She followed him out, welding the door shut. The bastard didn't need to be getting out, and he definitely wasn't going to be getting out any time soon.

The rest of the cells proved to be useless in their search for Malfoy. With each passing cell, she could see Blaise getting more and more fidgety when they couldn't find him. In the last cell, this one containing three bodies, he swore violently and punched a wall. Ginny swore, stepping closer and cradling his hand, healing it with her wand.

"Idiot." She murmured to him as he yanked his hand out of her grasp, pacing the cell furiously.

"Where the fuck is he?" He muttered, yanking at the end of his braid. She grabbed his arm as he passed her, stopping him.

"Just because he's not in one of the normal cells doesn't mean that the Lestranges don't have a high security cell. Didn't you think it was strange that there weren't any guards? Wherever he is, he's going to have guards—they know how unpredictable he can be, so they'd be prepared—and we haven't seen any guards yet. When we find the guards, we find Malfoy."

"D." Blaise corrected absently. Cursing inwardly at her slip-up, she nodded.

"Now come on." She led the way out of the cell, wand clutched in one hand as she examined the wall to the left of the stairway that led to the main part of the manor. It was bare of any and all adornment, but that was typical of a dungeon. What had caught her attention was the miniscule carving in the wall, on one of the bricks a little to the right. Anyone taller than she was wouldn't have noticed it, but it seemed to be built with Ginny in mind. It was an elaborate looking "L," probably standing for the Lestranges.

"This is it." She told him in a soft voice. "Should we wait around and figure out how to open it, or—" She stopped when he blasted it open, continuing down the hall. "—or you could just blow it up." Swearing, she glanced up the stairway to make sure that no one was sprinting down the stairs, before heading after him down the freshly-revealed hallway.

This was definitely it. And she was most certainly going in the correct direction, considering the bodies of guards that were littered in her path. She caught up with him standing frozen outside of an open door—he'd probably blasted that one, too—and she hurried to catch up with him. As soon as she got close enough, she frowned, rubbing her arms. It was cold—very cold. And she didn't like the cold.

"Raven, is this it?" She asked. It was a small nod that was her response, and she pushed him into the room. Ginny then froze at the sight that met her.

She remembered Draco Malfoy from Hogwarts, and from various other times that they had seen each other on the battlefield. Beyond that, she hadn't had a chance to examine him properly. But she still had seen enough of him to know that this broken huddle of blood and bones was far from the man that he used to be.

"Oh my fucking gods." She was barely aware that she had spoken. Malfoy was up against the far wall, a puddle of blood smeared from a place in the middle of the floor to where he was. It was hard to see the full details, since it was so bloody dark in the cell, but it was obvious to even her untrained eye that he had multiple broken bones—it had to be broken bones; after all, she wasn't sure that her shin protruded like that.

She immediately moved closer to him, even though her magic despised her from getting closer to the cold. Crouching beside him, and looked as his pale, bloodied features, before glancing imploringly to Blaise, who was still standing by the door.

"Bla…Raven, come help me!" She whispered urgently, almost slipping up again. He instantly obeyed, crouching down beside her. They were both at a loss as to what to do. They were used to using healing spells on each other, but the condition that he was in was far beyond what they were used to healing.

"I don't even know where to start." He murmured brokenly, staring down at his friend. Ginny was torn between looking at Malfoy with concern and looking at Blaise in concern.

"What we need to do is get him as upright as we can to Apparate." She said firmly, taking charge of the situation since Blaise was so obviously out of it. "And after that, then we can get him proper medical help." Blaise nodded, before reaching down and brushing the hair out of Malfoy's face. Now Ginny shot him a second, considering look. Was there even more to their relationship than she had thought?

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. Now wasn't the time.

"He's fucking cold." Blaise swore, his finger accidentally touching Malfoy's pale skin. "That's not normal."

"Of course not. It's also not normal to be able to control ice." She snapped back at him, trying to find the best place for her to grab so she could lift him up.

"No, I mean that he's colder than…colder than he's ever been before." Blaise said, concern leaking into his voice.

"What do you mean? You don't think…" She trailed off.

"His own magic is killing him." He said grimly.

"Oh, fuck, that's not good." She said, for lack of something productive to say.

"No shit." He snapped back at her, finally grabbing onto one of Malfoy's arms and pulling him upwards. Malfoy moaned in his unconscious state, but didn't do anything else. Apparently he was so far gone that even his pain wasn't completely reaching him. An idea springing into her head, Ginny brought her magic to the surface, hesitantly grabbing onto other arm. Malfoy convulsed lightly, before sinking back into his prone state again.

"What did you do?" Blaise demanded. "He's not cold anymore."

"Fire." She responded, concentrating on getting a better hold of the man so she'd be able to put more fire into him, warming him up. "I wasn't sure if it would work."

"Well, debating about whether or not it's actually doing him good will have to wait. Let's get out of here." She nodded.

"On three." She said. It would be impossible for only one person to Apparate the other two, so they would have to do side-along Apparating for all three of them, meaning that both Blaise and Ginny would have to Apparate at the same time.

"One." He said softly, adjusting his grip on Malfoy.

"Two." She responded.

A sharp clanging noise had both of them shooting their gazes towards the door, where the figure of Bellatrix Lestrange could be seen, grinning maniacally.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

((-))

Sorry for the late update, everyone! I was squashed like a very good looking bug in homework, so it's taken a while to get everything going. But luckily for me, Ami was there to get my good-looking bugness back into gear!

Review replies will soon be making their way into your lovely little emails. If you're an Anonymous Reviewer type of person and still want to get replies, let us know. We'll figure something out.

Reviews make the world go 'round, and the more you review, the faster you get to find out if Bella actually got lucky or not!! (insert evil cackle here)

Arigato!

Poka & Ja'ne-Roma & Ami!


	3. Chapter 3: When Past and Present Collide

The Phoenix Key

Chapter 3: When Past and Present Collide

((-))

Blaise fell against the wall of the OMEG-A division, crumbling under the weight of two extra bodies. Draco was sandwiched between his body and Ginny's. But that wasn't what concerned him. What concerned him was when Ginny's eyes met his and instead of relief and her normal strength, there was nothing but pain. Her mask-clad face lowered down to where her hand clutched her stomach. He followed her gaze almost disbelievingly, still numb from the shock of finding Draco. There was a gaping wound the size of his fist situated on the left side of Ginny's torso. Blood poured out over her hand.

Thirty seconds hadn't even passed since their arrival and the revelation of Ginny's wound. Already, L was running out of his office, sliding his mask over his face as he came. Moon, who had been waiting to help with whatever was needed, rushed to Ginny's side, taking her weight so that Blaise could support Draco without trying to hold Ginny up too.

"What happened?" L questioned as he slid his arm under Draco's shoulder.

Blaise looked to Moon. The blond skimmed two fingers over his partner's extraordinarily pale neck, checking the speed of her pulse. "Weak. She needs blood and healing now."

"Moon, you take Phoenix, Raven and I will take him." L gave the orders like the commander he was. Moon nodded and pulled Ginny closer before Apparating them both to the St. Mungo's OMEG Unit. Blaise and L followed a few moments later.

Moon appeared with a soft pop in front of the nurses station at the OMEG Unit. The nurses at the station moved into immediate action, calling out orders to their underlings as they went.

"What happened, Moon?" asked the RN in charge. Moon looked into the brown, nearly black, eyes of Parvati Patil. Of course Parvati would know who she was, but what about Ginny? Not only did Ginny _not_ go to the hospital, but Ginny and Parvati had been rivals in school. Hopefully that wouldn't dissuade the help her friend got.

"I'm not sure. She and Raven just Apparated into HQ like this. L and Raven will be along in a moment with their retrieval." Moon helped the RN get Ginny situated onto a gurney. Parvati was about to wheel her away when Moon laid a hand on her arm. "Listen Parvati, this is going to require even more discretion than normal. She get's the best care. Understood?"

Parvati gave her a searching look. "You know I keep it quiet, Lu- Moon." The nurse caught herself quickly. "And don't worry, she's in the best hands." Apparently Parvati had gotten over her high and mightiness since school. The nurse smiled and wheeled Ginny away to a private room. A doctor in blue healer's robes hurried in after them.

About that time Blaise and L both Apparated into the exact spot Moon and Ginny had Apparated into. There was another RN waiting to take Draco Malfoy away, but when she saw just how much damage had been done to him, she turned to the nearest nurse and whispered something. The nurse nodded and hurried off. Another gurney was brought forward and it took four nurses plus Blaise and L to get the man laid out. About the same time four other blue clad Healers rushed around the corner whisking the injured man away into a room across from Ginny's.

"What happened?" L asked before Blaise could go to the room where his partner was being treated.

Blaise looked around making sure they were in complete private before sliding his mask up. He scrubbed his hands over his face. "We got in with no problems. It took some looking but we finally found him. He's in bad shape, L. Really bad shape. We were about to leave, then Bellatrix showed up. Ginny caught the tale end of a Killing Curse." And he could only be grateful of Ginny's natural elemental magic. The fire inside of Ginny had automatically tried to negate the curse, so instead of killing her, it had hit an invisible shield and turned into a much less lethal fireball. But, her body hadn't been able to absorb it fast enough, thus resulting in the fist sized crater than now marred her skin.

"And how did Bellatrix realize you were doing what you were doing?" L asked.

"I'm not sure. There were no wards in the manor, and we killed all the guards. Maybe it was simple coincidence," Blaise explained as he fidgeted.

L knew the taller man was worried when he noticed his fists clenching and unclenching in an irregular pattern. Blaise Zabini _never_ fidgeted. Of course, it was his partner in one room, and his one time best friend in the other. He was bound to be tied up in emotional knots.

Blaise turned his gaze on L and gave him an almost pleading look. It was killing him not to be in either room.

"We'll need to talk once Malfoy's out of the red. Go to your partner," L ordered softly. He knew there was more to Raven and Phoenix's relationship than simply being partners. It was a double edged blade. On one hand they always had someone to turn to, someone to watch their backs. On the other hand partners who turned lovers often became too overprotective of one another. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. He could only pray that his two finest would work.

Blaise didn't even nod, he simply slipped his mask back down over his face and strode down the hall, only to stop between the two doors.

Moon watched Raven walk away and stop. She wasn't the idiot people had once thought her to be. She knew a bit of what was going on in Raven's mind. She knew about Raven and Phoenix. But, she also knew about Raven and Draco Malfoy. She imagined the internal conflict going on in his mind was nearly excruciating. With a heavy sigh she turned back to L. "I'll go and let Ron know what's happened."

L only nodded before Apparating back to his office. The RN's would notify him when things were clear.

Blaise stood between the two doors, not bothering to pay any attention to the twin pops that signaled Moon and L's departure. It was an odd thing to be at war with ones own self. On top of that he had never imagined he would ever be in this predicament. Ginny was in one room and Draco was in the other; his past and his present colliding. Memories poured through his mind, both the good and the bad. He remembered the first time he had ever kissed Ginny, the elation he felt at how perfectly she fit. He remembered the last time he kissed Draco, the sorrow he'd felt in knowing it would probably be the last time. He wanted to go to Draco, to see him, touch him. But, Draco was his past. He had moved on. Ginny was his present.

Still, he couldn't stop the pain that shot through his heart at the former thought. It felt like betrayal. He had never given up on Draco, would never give up on Draco. No matter that they had barely been together when the war had torn them apart. What he had felt for Draco had been something different, something he'd thought no one could fill. Until Ginny stepped into his life, that was. Ginny had taken that pain and turned it into something else. It was still there, still a little piece of himself missing. But Ginny had taken up most of the void. She had made him happy again, and though he wouldn't admit it out loud, she had made him love again.

He looked to the door on the right. Draco's door. He closed his eyes, heaved a sigh, and turned to the left opening the other door.

Blaise closed the door behind him, careful not to make too much noise.

"We're almost done, Raven. I'll leave you two alone after that," Parvati stated quietly. She and the Healer had their hands hovering over Ginny's wound. Which, Blaise noticed, was healing slowly under the dim blue light of the healing spell. He knew they had to be extremely careful, Ginny's power could backlash causing not only the wound to re-open, but also causing harm to the nurse and healer so diligently working on healing her.

He wanted to go to her; to let her know he was there. But, his own magic could interfere with the healing process. He wanted nothing to interfere with the healing of his partner.

After what seemed like an eternity Parvati and the Healer both pulled away. Ginny shifted on the bed, her eyelids fluttering. Blaise went to her side, casually slipping his hand in hers. Parvati turned to Blaise, shaking her hands to rid herself of the residual magic from the spell. "She'll be fine. I'll let L know you two aren't to be put on assignment for a few weeks. She'll need time to heal." The nurse gave Blaise a sympathetic smile, one Blaise felt he didn't need.

"Thank you, Parvati. Would you mind going and checking on Draco? He's pretty bad off, I'm sure they'll need all the hands they can get." Blaise made the question more of a pertinent suggestion, broking no room for argument.

Parvati nodded and left.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Blaise slid his mask off laying it down next to where Ginny's rested on the table next to her bed. He tightened his grip on her hand and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"You know, saving your ass is really starting to get on my nerves," he whispered, using his free hand to brush the stray strands of hair away from her face. Ginny brought her other hand up and grasped his hand.

"Well, I'm sick of taking the hits for you, bastard," she sighed, adjusting herself so that she could sit up a little.

Blaise leaned forward and kissed her for two reasons. One because he was glad to have her safe and alive, and two because it would keep her from pushing herself to hard, as was her wont. "Easy now, you're still not completely healed. We need to get home. You need rest."

"Oh, shut it, Beanie Boy. What we need to do is go check on Malfoy. He was too bad off. We need to make sure he makes it through." She tried to get up, but Blaise kept her pinned, even though she knew it drove him insane when she used the stupid nick name she'd given him when they started living together.

"There's at least four Healers and ten nurses working on him. They'll make sure he makes it," Blaise replied.

Ginny glared at him. "It's not that I'm worried about. He was cold, Blaise. You said it yourself, his magic was killing him."

"Damn," Blaise muttered. He sat up and stood, grabbing his mask.

Ginny sat up gingerly, careful of the still raw wound on her stomach. She'd get Blaise to heal it fully later. Blaise handed her mask over and she slipped it on. Blaise held out his hand and Ginny slipped her hand in his. He helped her to her feet and steadied her when she swayed. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just a little blood loss. Nothing I haven't dealt with before," she replied.

Blaise sighed and didn't say anything. Ginny was thankful for the small kindness her partner granted her. She followed him out of the room, mask firmly in place, and into the hall. Parvati was speaking hastily to another nurse. She dismissed the other nurse when she saw them, and hurried over.

"They've done all they can. But, there's only so much they can do. Too much magic that isn't his and they both start conflicting. There is one thing that's still worrying us." Parvati rubbed a hand over her face. "He's freezing. Did you know his element was Ice?"

Blaise nodded. "His father was abusive. That abuse kept him from gaining the control he needed over his element. It's not surprising his magic is turning against him. It was trying to protect him from the torture, trying to give him the most comfort possible."

"You're saying it was trying to kill him?" Parvati sounded like she might be sick. The color of her skin had lightened from it's light mocha color to a sickly gray. Her own element was all things earth. She couldn't imagine having the heady hand of Mother Nature turning against her, even if it was for her own protection.

"I can help him," Ginny stated.

Parvati gave her a look, that wasn't exactly skeptical, but questioning all the same. "Listen, Phoenix, I know your element is fire. But with your wound like it was, I don't suggest it. You should conserve your strength, and your magic."

Even beneath the mask, Parvati watched Ginny Weasley's eyes harden. "My element doesn't take anything out of me. If anything, it helps me."

It was an obvious dismissal of Parvati's suggestion.

Ginny nodded towards Blaise and he stepped between them to open the door to Draco's room. Ginny went in first while Blaise followed behind, quietly closing the door.

The nurses had all left the room and the four blue clad Healers were in the corner going over the body scans. They stopped their murmuring when the two entered and looked up. The one closest to them nodded once to the other Healers, dismissing them, before heading over to stand by Ginny and Blaise.

"How is he?" Blaise's voice was rough, and Ginny wished she could see behind his mask. He had waited until it was only the three of them in the room.

"Stable," The Healer stated somberly. He was an older man, in his late fifties, the crow's feet around his eyes were deepening by the second. Ginny could only think that the man looked like he was about to fall over from exhaustion at any moment. The Healer rubbed his wrinkling hands over his eyes. "There was only so much we could do for him. He was injured very badly, if you hadn't gotten him out when you did, he would have been beyond hope."

The Healer allowed the reality to sink in to the two agents beside him. It had been a very close call indeed. "As I said, he's stable. There's nothing more that we can do for him now. The rest will have to be done on his own. I'll give you a list of things that will need constant attention, minor healing spells, and such. He'll be released into your care shortly." He turned to Ginny. "I was told your element is fire."

Ginny nodded, her curls, loose from their bind, bouncing.

The Healer nodded again. "I'm sure Nurse Patil explained about his element. Would you mind heating him up a bit? If he doesn't stay warm there's a chance he could go hypothermic."

Both of them nodded and the Healer left the room, leaving the two of them alone with the beeping, whirring machines, and the unconscious man in the hospital bed. Before Blaise could say anything, Ginny was striding across the room. She slid her mask off, laid it carefully on the near-by table, then sat on the edge of the bed.

"Gin-"

"Blaise, just hush. I'm not taking anything out of myself by doing this for him," Ginny replied quietly. "Help me move him. He needs to be on his side so that I can reach his back." Her fingers went to the buttons on her vest and she began divesting herself of her top.

Silently, Blaise went. He knew what she needed to do and he also knew that in order to give him the most heat possible she would need skin to skin contact. However, his stupid emotions didn't have to like it. There they were, his past and present. The former needing so much from the latter, and the latter willing to give what she could to the former. His thoughts, as well as his heart were, for once, in a jumbled up pile with no hope to untangle them anytime soon.

Ginny shifted herself so that she was lying front to back with Draco, while Blaise held the unconscious man up. She unzipped the front of her vest and slipped it off while Blaise managed to untie the hospital gown so that Draco Malfoy's pale back was exposed. Ginny slowly slipped her arm under Draco's head and wound the other around his waist, pulling herself as close to him as possible. The Healers were right, he was freezing. She could feel her own power cringing away from the cold.

She wrapped herself tighter around him, forcing the cold back and warming her own body up. It would take a while, but in the end it would do him some good. Ever so slowly Draco's body began to respond, and the sluggish beeping of his heart monitor sped up to a more normal speed.

Blaise watched Ginny shiver once from where he stood and wanted to do something to help, though, his element was of nature, not fire. He wouldn't be doing either one of them any good. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that he should be doing something, anything.

"Blaise, calm down, you're twitching," Ginny's voice was quiet, sleepy almost.

He looked down at his hands and found, to his surprise, his hands were balled into fists and indeed twitching. It took physical effort to force his fingers to straighten out. About that time, there was a knock on the door and Blaise had to bring himself back from wherever the hell he'd gone. He glanced at Ginny but her eyes were shut as she focused her magic into warming up the other man. So, Blaise went to the door and knocked twice from his side. The answering four knocks let him know it was L.

"How does it look?" L asked quietly as Blaise let him in the room.

"The Healer said he's stable. But he's not fully healed yet," Blaise replied.

L slid his mask off and ran his hand over his now exposed face. Blaise realized that this was taking a toll on L as well. Even though L was only slightly older than himself, it seemed to Blaise that the other man was looking older than his years. L must have felt his gaze because he looked up at Blaise with a weary smile.

"I know what you're thinking, old friend, and don't you dare say a word about it. We'll all go on vacation once this is over and done with."

Blaise gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah, a vacation. You're more exhausted than I thought, you're hallucinating."

L tried for a smirk. "How's the girl? Parvati's already bullied me about putting you lot on assignment," he asked with a slight nod towards the bed.

"Better than Draco at any rate. She'll have a nice scar where the spell hit, and the Healer's said she'd be hurting for a while. I just want to get her home and to bed."

L put his hand on Blaise's shoulder and sighed. "I know mate. But…well, we'd better wake her up."

"There's no point in waking someone up who's already awake," came a voice from the bed. Both men turned to find Ginny awake and giving them a disapproving look. "You couldn't by chance pass me my vest, could you?"

Blaise nodded once before going to grab her vest. Ginny sat up wrapping one arm around her upper half and using her other hand to feel Draco's forehead.

"He feels like he has a fever," she said as Blaise handed her the vest.

"That's good, right?" he asked as Ginny put the vest back on and buttoned it in place.

"Of course. It means his Ice has retreated and no longer feels like it should protect him," Ginny answered. She pulled the hospital gown back and tied it in place so that the other man could at least have a little dignity. Not that he was going to wake up to realize it any time soon.

"Then he should be stable enough to be moved?" L asked. Ginny had almost forgotten he was there.

"Moved? What do you mean moved, L? Because obviously he's going to just jump right up and go for a walk with us," Blaise retorted sarcastically.

"Blaise," Ginny whispered. Sure L was a good friend, but he was also their commanding officer, their superior. And while she could understand Blaise's frustration, that was still no way to speak to their commander.

"No, no, you're right. I haven't explained myself." L sighed and walked over to where Blaise stood by the bed. "Since we didn't get the time to discuss things at the office, we'll discuss it now." Ginny made a face at his comment. "Now, what I was planning on telling you was that because Draco was in so deep and because his case was so profiled he's going to be under OMEG protection." L held up his hand when it looked like Blaise was going to ask a question. "Just let me finish, Blaise. What this means is that he will have to be under constant surveillance by two OMEG-A agents. Namely, well…you two."

"But he knows us, L. What's the point of us guarding him when he knows us?" Ginny asked from the bed. Unbelievably, Blaise was silent.

"Yes, I know this Gin, but think about it this way. As an OMEG-A agent your top priority is to keep your identity hidden. I do understand that this means being consistently in uniform, but, well, quite frankly you two are the only ones I trust."

Ginny didn't quite know what to say to that. They had never had to do this sort of thing before. "Well, we can't very well keep him at our apartment, now can we? It's too personal, he'd know it was us the moment he woke up."

L nodded. "Which is why the Ministry will be funding the bill. You're being assigned an apartment under Ministry supervision. It will be supplied with everything you could possibly need, making leaving obsolete."

"You mean you want us to stay cooped up there until the assignment's over?" Ginny asked incredulously. There was no way in Hades she was going to stay cooped up in any apartment, despite the fact that Blaise would be with her.

"Ginny, you will be allowed out, when you come to the office for updates. And, it will have to wait until he's healed." L tried a laugh, but caught himself short at the look Ginny was shooting his way. "Okay, sorry, that was a bad joke. Of course you'll be allowed out. You'll just have to go out like normal civilians, except for him. He can't go out. Period."

Blaise stood silent while Ginny thought over the situation. L had a very valid point about Draco's case. He would need constant surveillance. However…"We can't watch him all the time, L. That's too much for even us to bear."

L nodded. "You're right, and I've already thought about it. You'll be in a Ministry approved building and there will be Aurors posted on guard at all times. This meaning you'll be allowed to sleep your regular hours, come to the office, go out. However, you will need to be with him as much as possible. I'll leave it up to your discretion."

Ginny nodded.

"What about food?" Blaise asked finally. Their usual fare was takeout, so faced with the possibility of no longer being able to access the wide variety of restaurants they were used to visiting, he was a bit reluctant to put the fate of his stomach into the hands of someone else. L waved his hand to dismiss the thought.

"Like I said, the apartment will be stocked adequately," he replied, almost as an afterthought. "Now, you need to move Draco as soon as he's stable, since he's in danger practically anywhere that is not the safe house. If you can get one of those doctors in here to announce that he isn't going to die any time soon, I'd like you to transport him as soon as possible." L was in full business mode; Ginny assumed that he had somewhere else he needed to be, now that he knew that both of his agents were safe and Malfoy was relatively stable.

"He's not completely stable," Ginny pointed out, indicating the monitor that proclaimed his temperature to be nearing 103 degrees. L glanced at it and shrugged.

"You're both adults. I'm sure you can make sure he doesn't die from a fever," he said, sliding his mask on. "I'll send one of those doctors this way. Here's the Portkey. It'll activate in five minutes, so you'd better hope he's stable, or else you're going to be bringing someone with you to make sure he doesn't die." He handed Blaise the bit of gauze he must have turned into a Portkey, and nodded at them both, before starting to leave.

At the door, he stopped, hesitating. "You two did well today," he said before vanishing from sight. Ginny turned to look at Blaise, who was no longer looking towards the door but was looking at Draco instead. Internally, she sighed. If she was going to have to deal with these agonized and soulful looks the whole time that they were sequestered in that apartment, she was going to go insane. As it was, she wasn't quite sure how she was going to remain this side of bonkers with the forced isolation L was submitting them to.

Both remembered to put their masks on before the doctor returned to the room. Parvati was the one that entered the room, despite being a nurse, and started bustling around Draco's bed. At their silence, she sought to fill it with an explanation.

"There's another emergency from the B division," she explained her presence as she began pulling out all the wires that were attached to Draco. "Most of the doctors are there now. Since he's mostly stable—" She paused to shoot a dirty glare at the monitor that was flashing the red numbers of his dangerous temperature. "—I'll get him all ready for you to take. I'd suggest providing further help, since he's far from being healthy."

Ginny caught the concerned look Blaise shot towards Draco when the blonde started to shiver. She knew it wasn't in reaction to his element, but rather towards his fever. Even then, they would have to go to some extreme lengths to get him back to being completely healthy.

Once she was done with the monitors she bustled out the door and returned a moment later carrying a large duffle bag. She held it out for one of them to take. Ginny grabbed it. "These are all the potions he could possibly need. As well as bandages. Once he's stabilized more and is actually coherent, there are herbal bath salts that will help with the muscle and tissue damage. Make sure he uses everything in there. The instructions are all in the bag. I'll be stopping by tomorrow to check on his progress. Now hurry!" She shoved Blaise and Ginny towards the bed then hurriedly left the room.

That five minutes had flown by, and Ginny hardly knew what to make of it all. All she knew was that they were about to be yanked off to gods knew where, with a sick man, and a bag full of potions and bath salts.

"Ginny, hurry," Blaise ordered briskly. He had wrapped the gauze around Draco's hand and grabbed hold. Ginny quickly grabbed hold of Draco's bandaged hand and a second later they were spinning out of the hospital room.

The apartment they landed in wasn't anything like what Ginny had expected. When L had mentioned a Ministry appointed apartment she had thought it would be bleak, office-like, with no feeling to the décor, and she couldn't have been more wrong. They had landed in what looked to be the living room. There were two overstuffed arm chairs that seemed like a hodge podge collection of sorts, but somehow seemed to fit together with a home-like comfort. The leather couch took up most of the rest of the room and contrasted nicely with the chairs. A glass and wrought iron coffee table brought the room together nicely, if she did say so herself.

"Ginny, a little help here," Blaise said. She'd been too busy in her appraisal of the apartment to remember that Blaise was carrying their patient.

"Sorry," she apologized. There had to be a bedroom around here somewhere. She looked to the right and found the master bedroom. Sorry, Mr. Malfoy, that would be for her and Blaise's private enjoyment. If she could ever get around to pulling him out of his sinking depression. She looked to the left and found another door. This had possibilities.

She made her way over and opened the door and found what she was looking for. "Blaise, in here," she called. It was a nice bedroom, if a bit small. There was only room for a double bed, a small nightstand, and a dresser, but there was still enough space for them to maneuver Draco onto the bed. The unconscious man groaned as they settled him in place, but otherwise didn't budge. They tucked the overly large comforter around him, giving what little protection there was against the vicious shivering. While Blaise stood brooding over the other man, Ginny set the duffle bag on the floor and unzipped it.

The first thing she came to was, as Parvati had said, the instruction manual. Or at least, she thought it was the instruction manual. It was a blank piece of parchment. She turned it over to the other side and examined it more carefully. When she turned it over again words began forming.

Fever-Reducer

Administer by mouth once every hour until fever is gone.

Ginny pulled out the vial that was appropriately labeled and returned to the bed. "Blaise, if you please, I have to make him well again."

Blaise startled himself out of his daze and stepped aside, watching as Ginny sat on the edge of the bed. She knew what she was doing, of that he was sure. She had treated him enough times to where she could be a healer if the spirit moved her. He watched as she uncorked the vial of orange liquid and poured it into Draco's parted mouth. She set the vial on the table beside the bed and placed her hands on either side of Draco's throat, gently massaging the potion down Draco's esophagus. The change in temperature was immediately apparent. His shivering diminished, and his skin didn't look nearly as flushed as it had before.

Using her own element as her guide, she felt Draco's forehead and could tell a significant decrease. "I'd say he's down to about a hundred and one. Much better than it was before." She smiled a bit beneath her mask. This wasn't so much different than taking care of Blaise.

((-))

_Blaise was sick. Ginny was getting sick. _

This can't bode well,_ Ginny thought as she coughed into her hand. She could hear Blaise hacking down the hall. She checked her forehead, a bit of a fever. Damn. She should go and check on Blaise. Though they'd only been flat mates for the better part of three months, he was still her partner and his health was still important to her. _

_Somehow, someway, she managed to get herself out of her bed. After fumbling around for a moment, hacking the whole time, she finally managed to find her robe and slung it around her freezing shoulders. Her element was no use to her now. She couldn't control a flame when she couldn't control her own body. Besides, when she sneezed tiny licks of flame came out of her nose. She didn't get sick much, but when she did, she really got sick. _

_Down the hall, Blaise's coughing continued, only this time accompanied by a moaning sound. Again, this didn't bode well. Ginny was honestly worried about her partner/ flat mate. As far back as she could remember, Blaise never got sick. She made it to his bedroom and found him sprawled in his bed. He was naked, of course, as he normally slept that way. However, he had kicked the covers off with a hot flash. As if Ginny's skin needed to be any further flushed, the redness deepened and she tried to avert her eyes. _

_"Blaise," she whispered hoarsely. The only reply she got was Blaise's coughing and a groan as his lungs exerted themselves. She went to the bed, grabbed the thin green satin sheet, and with a blush, and a bit of a regretful glance towards his nether regions, she pulled the sheet up over his waist. Blaise bemoaned the covers and tried to push them off again, getting so far as pushing it down to the middle of his thighs, before Ginny yanked it back up again. _

_Blaise opened bleary eyes and gazed at Ginny. "'Lo beautiful," he mumbled. _

_Ginny's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. What nonsense was this? She and Blaise did not have that kind of a relationship, despite some of her more recent fantasies. _

_"Blaise, are you well?" she asked a bit louder._

_Blaise grinned up at her. "I'm," he coughed, "fantastic, love." He coughed some more and added a sneeze or two. "Though, I think if you'd come get in bed with me, I'd feel much better." He motioned for her to join him. _

_"Blaise, you're sick. I'll get you some tea," Ginny said. She was glad he was out of it; he couldn't possibly notice her blush for what it was. Instead, she went to the kitchen and put on a kettle to boil. She heard a noise behind her and spun around only to find Blaise leaning against the wall, with the bed sheet wrapped around his waist. _

_"Ginny, has anyone told you that you have fabulous tits?" Blaise grinned playfully. Or at least he must have thought it was playful. Ginny thought he looked like he was drunk. Firstly, he'd called her Ginny instead of his usual Ginevra, and secondly he was talking about her tits! His fever must be horrible. He was actually delusional. Ginny dismissed his banter and returned to her tea making. Suddenly she remembered that she had a Fever-Reducing potion in her bathroom. When she turned to go get it, however, Blaise was blocking her path. _

_"Blaise, you should go back to bed. You're sick." She coughed through one of the worst fits yet. "So, for that matter, am I. So, I'm going to make tea, get some medicine then we're both going back to bed. You in yours, and me in mine." Though she tried to make it a statement, coughing in the middle of it sort of put the point off. And then she sneezed. Flames licked out of her nose and Blaise burst out laughing. It was enough to send him into another coughing fit, and his fit triggered one of her own. _

_Once they had calmed themselves down enough to stop coughing, Ginny shoved past Blaise and went to her bathroom. It took a moment of rummaging but she finally found what she was looking for. Every month her mother sent her what she had deemed The Pack O'Doom. Each pack contained a few potions, all practical and useful. Ginny rarely had need for them, but she was glad now that she hadn't thrown them away. During her one of her off days she'd even gotten it into her head to organize them. And she found the bag marked "Cold & Flu". In it she found every potion they could ever need. And she had multiples of each. Her mother apparently thought her daughter would catch every sickness known to man when not under her watchful gaze._

_Ginny returned to the kitchen only to find Blaise passed out on the kitchen floor. She hurried over to him trying not to aggravate her coughing. Pillowing his head on her lap, she tapped his face gently. There was no response. She remembered something her mother had once done to her when she passed out. The Fever-Reducer potion with a Pepper-Up chaser. The first brought the fever down enough while the second revitalized the body. She found both potions and uncorked them. She poured the first into Blaise's slack mouth and rubbed his throat, forcing him to swallow. She followed with the second potion and repeated the process. _

_After a moment, Blaise's eyes fluttered open. He looked around blearily until his eyes rested on her face. "Ginevra?" he asked groggily. "What the bloody hell happened to me?"_

_Ginny was so relieved she couldn't help but laugh._

((-))

In the end they'd both ended up passing out on Blaise's massive bed. The one that had ended up as _their_ bed. Come to think of it, Draco was being a much better patient than Blaise. At least this one didn't try to hit on her in a delusional state. In fact, this one didn't do much of anything besides lay there.

With a little effort she managed to stand. She hadn't felt it before, but now the remnants of pain were beginning to settle into her abused abdomen. An involuntary groan escaped her as she stretched out her muscles, more aches and pains making themselves known. This, yet again, reinforced the fact that she wasn't super-woman; just a regular human with a few super natural abilities.

"Are you alright?" Blaise asked quietly.

Ginny surveyed his mask covered face. "I'm fine, just hurting a bit. A little sleep and I'll be good as new." She knew beneath his mask there was a small smile on his face.

"Well, then, we'll have to take care of that won't we?" Blaise replied. He would be more than glad to fall into bed with Ginny by his side. Her presence would help ease the internal struggle he was currently going through. He saw her nod once before she went to the duffle bag and zipped it closed.

A knock on the door frame startled them both. They needn't have worried, though; it was only Moon.

Luna slipped her mask off and looked at the two agents before her. "I'm your relief for the evening," she stated with a smile.

Blaise and Ginny visibly relaxed. Both slid their masks off, not knowing why they hadn't done so earlier. It wasn't as if Draco would be waking up any time soon. "Damn, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you," Blaise said with a sigh. Ginny reinforced his statement with a warm smile.

"Just doing my job, you know," Luna answered lightly. "You two look like hell."

"You always were blunt," Ginny muttered.

"And I always will be. Now, go to bed. Sleep all you want. My mission is to be your relief when you need it. At least when I'm not on other missions, that is," Luna said.

It didn't take much prodding. Ginny grabbed Blaise's hand and tugged him out of the room, intent on making it to bed and forgetting all about the troubles that came with Draco Malfoy.

((-))

A/N: So, this chapter might be a little late coming, no? Our sincerest regrets. Life caught up with us both for a long time, plus our own personal fics, so this one was kind of put on the back burner. Not to mention this was done about six hours ago, and Roma accidentally fell asleep before waking up at 4:30 to remember that she forgot to edit it and post it for Ami. Don't worry, she's feeling quite guilty right now.

Anyway, you will notice that in this chapter that the editing is much better; i.e. there is no more stuff like, "Blah blah blah." Said So and so. It's now "Blah blah blah," said So and so. Got it? Roma'll get around to going back and editing the first two chapters, too.

Anyway, thank you for all your support while we were hunting down those elusive plot bunnies. They're currently swarming us now, but no promises on when this fic will be updated; Ami's working on "I Am," and she's rather far along there, while Roma's got two little pet projects that you may or may not see in the near future. So keep and eye out for those!

Support is always loved, so REVIEW and show that support, even if we are late updating!

Arigato!

Poka & Ja'ne-Roma & Ami


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